The Mole
Character bio The Mole is a blind lavender extraterrestrial mole with dark sunglasses (or possibly teashades) and a mole by his nose. He wears a long purple turtleneck on his sweater. Like Mime and Cro-Marmot, he does not speak. This could possibly be due to the upper part of his turtleneck covering his mouth, though it is more likely that he is mute, seeing as how he never makes a sound even during his most excruciating injuries or deaths. Though he is not deaf, he does seem to have hearing problems, as can be seen in Party Animal and A Sight for Sore Eyes. It is hard to tell exactly what pitch and frequency he can hear at, as Wipe Out depicts him hearing Handy's first scream, but he is unable to hear his second, louder scream. Because disaster often follows his blind wandering, his actions and characteristics resemble those of Mr. Magoo. Despite being completely blind, he is often seen driving. He is also one of several characters without visible Pac-Man-shaped pupils (along with Lumpy, Nutty, Evil Flippy, Lifty, Shifty, and Cro-Marmot). Aside from having hearing and vision problems, The Mole appears to be unable to feel pain. This is evidenced by the facts that he does not react when his thumb is lit on fire in Stealing the Spotlight or when his walking stick impales his head in Class Act. However, he does display thermoception at times. In Blind Date, he shivers after his car roof is sheared off. According to the commentary for Pitchin' Impossible, The Mole was originally supposed to be a James Bond-like secret agent with all kinds of spy gadgets around him, but this idea was discarded when the series was created. It was not until the episode Mole in the City that his secret agent identity was explored. He also has an arch-nemesis known as The Rat, most likely because they both have careers in international espionage. A running gag in the series is The Mole doing things that require vision, such as reading a magazine, lighting a match to see in the dark, and even driving. He usually has jobs that require good vision, which, in most episodes, leads to many characters' deaths (Lumpy and Handy in particular), and sometimes his own. According to the commentary for Concrete Solution, the writers do this just because they need something bad to happen, and Mole and Lumpy are considered the worst people for almost any job. If the episode has to run smoothly, they use a tree friend capable of doing any given job correctly. He is good friends with Handy and Lumpy, as can be seen in Concrete Solution, and Sniffles, as can be seen in A Hole Lotta Love. In the web shorts, The Mole rarely dies, but he usually causes great harm to the other Tree Friends due to his disabilities. In the TV series, he dies much more often, but still survives a lot of episodes (he has, thus far, survived 25 episodes). His deaths usually involve his head, getting impaled or crushed, explosions, or loss of body parts. As is revealed in the storyboard for Flippin' Burgers on the Second Serving DVD, The Mole was originally going to be featured in that episode, as well as getting killed by Flippy by having his skin ripped off with a hanging hook. The idea was removed when the episode was finalized. He is the first and only character to have three starring roles during the first season of the television series without starring alone. He has co-starred with Handy, Lumpy, Russell, and Splendid. The "Collect Them All" section in the First Blood DVD claims that The Mole has blue eyes. He also seems to love stuffed animals, judging by Pitchin' Impossible. In many episodes, he is seen doing random things with body parts from dead characters, like using Mime's head as a jack o'lantern, using Sniffles' head as a bowling ball, mistaking Disco Bear's severed head for a watermelon and weighing it on a scale, mistaking Giggles' heart as a piece of litter, mistaking Handy's heart for a surfboard polisher, and mistaking Cuddles' eye for an apple. Also, in the comics, he is seen bobbing for apples, but mistakes Handy's heart for an apple. He has also, on occasion, eaten body parts, which likely only happens because he does not realize what he is eating. Another misuse of body parts can be found in the music video for The Carpal Tunnel of Love by Fall Out Boy. When Toothy's eyeball lands in a tub of ice cream, he puts it in Cuddles and Giggles' ice cream soda, causing them to spit it out. Some episodes have hinted The Mole may be living in poverty. In Hear Today, Gone Tomorrow, he plays the trombone for money. In We're Scrooged!, it is implied that he is raising money for donation, when he actually spends the money on a new toy (though it is possible that he was buying the toy for charity). This is further explored in the False Alarm episode, where he is dressed in shabby clothes and appears to live homeless. However, in other episodes such as Blind Date, he appears with a house, a car, and good clothes to wear. While his blindness is often cause for characters dying and getting harmed, The Mole himself seems to be a kind-hearted character. In Blind Date, he is more than prepared to take his date to several nice places, like a lookout point and a movie theater, despite not being able to see these things himself. In Out of Sight, Out of Mime, he is seen giving trick-or-treaters a large amount of candy. He also helps out other characters regularly in group events, such as birthday parties, cleaning the environment, and building houses. In All Flocked Up, he also tries to help a bird get back to its nest, though he accidentally takes Lumpy's heart instead. The Mole survives in most of the episodes he appears in, but he does die in Happy Trails Pt. 1, Class Act, Remains to be Seen (but was later revived as a zombie), From Hero to Eternity, Party Animal, Don't Yank My Chain, Doggone It, Concrete Solution, Who's to Flame?, Gems the Breaks, A Hole Lotta Love, Idol Curiosity, Home Is Where the Hurt Is, Aw Shucks!, A Sight for Sore Eyes, Hear Today, Gone Tomorrow, The Carpal Tunnel of Love, the Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm episode, Wrath of Con, Breaking Wind, All In Vein, No Time Like the Present, Pet Peeve, and Spare Tire. He was called "The Mole" in episode title cards until the Season 3 episode A Sucker for Love, with "Mole" being used in The Chokes on You and further episodes. He's an immortalized Ghost-type Pokémon. Category:Main Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Boy Characters